The present invention relates to an optical disk apparatus having a function of recording data onto an optical disk as well as a function of forming an image.
Some of the optical disk apparatus available in recent years have an image forming function of forming an image of a character or a figure in addition to a recording function of recording data such as audio data onto an optical disk including a CD-R (Compact Disc-Recordable) (for example, refer to the Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 7530/1996). This type of optical disk apparatus irradiates with laser light a recording surface on which data is recorded to change the color of part of the recording surface by means of heat, thereby forming an image of a character or a figure.
The image forming feature incorporated into an optical disk apparatus leads to a more complicated design of the optical disk apparatus, which results in an increase in device cost. A longer time required to form an image onto an optical disk or poor picture quality will impair the added value.